Cyprus police are widening their investigation into allegations made by journalist Makarios Drousiotis, pursuing claims of corruption, sexual abuse and a shadowy network of officials and judges known as the Brotherhood of the Rosicrucians, Phileleftheros reports.
While questions remain over the authenticity of SMS messages handed to police by Drousiotis, investigators are now pressing ahead with inquiries into the Brotherhood claims, which allege the network operates behind a woman known as “Sandy” and moves millions of euros.
Sandy’s credibility under scrutiny
The authenticity of the SMS messages is pending review by Europol. In a development reported on Friday, Sandy herself acknowledged that she had used photographs sourced from the internet in her messages to make them appear credible.
This, according to the source, strengthens her own account to police: that she had become addicted to a fabricated scenario, constructing and sending messages to lawyer Nicos Clerides without telling him they were fake, and had come to experience the role of Sandy as real.
Photographs published by Drousiotis purporting to show cash and a joint bank account between Sandy and a judge were also found to originate from the internet, from 2018 and 2019, as police stated in the sworn affidavit used to secure a search warrant for Clerides’s premises.
A new audio recording that surfaced on Friday, relating to Sandy’s alleged stay at a victim protection centre in Germany, will also be examined for authenticity.
However, authorities say evidence gathered from state agencies and from ten of Sandy’s employers covering the period in question suggests she was in Cyprus at the time, a finding corroborated by medical records showing doctor visits during that period.
Investigators have obtained records from the Social Insurance Services and the General Health System, and are examining immigration records to establish whether she had travelled. As one source put it to Phileleftheros, a person cannot be in two places at once.
Journalist called to testify
Investigators intend to contact journalist Stelios Orphanides to ask him to give a statement. According to Phileleftheros information, he does not appear willing to cooperate, but his testimony is considered essential, not least because he holds audio recordings relevant to the inquiry.
Sandy herself has stated she sent him no messages. If he does not cooperate, authorities say they will pursue formal channels to seek the assistance of the authorities in the country where he resides. Initial contact by investigators went unanswered, according to the same information.
Brotherhood inquiry: bank accounts and named individuals
On the Brotherhood of the Rosicrucians strand of the inquiry, investigators have drawn up a list of individuals named in connection with the allegations who will be called to give statements. Both Drousiotis and Clerides have referenced the Brotherhood in their own statements to police.
In his police statement, as cited in a sworn declaration submitted to a judge, Clerides is alleged to have said that Sandy told him the judge runs Cyprus and belongs to a Brotherhood controlled from Greece and Russia.
Drousiotis alleged in his first post on March 30 that judge Michalis Christodoulou had arranged employment for Sandy in 2020 at a Cypriot subsidiary of a Greek company, and that large sums were moved through that company’s accounts on behalf of the Brotherhood.
A 14-page document Drousiotis submitted to investigators on April 3, 2026, which purportedly sets out Sandy’s story, references the participation of Michalis, or “Mikel”, in the Brotherhood. Sandy, according to the document, began learning how the Brotherhood influenced the functioning of the state in both Cyprus and Greece.
As part of the investigation, authorities are now expected to examine bank accounts belonging to companies and individuals named in the allegations, a step that has not been taken until now, to assess whether the claims carry any substance.
Paternity question
Investigators have also been looking into claims about the paternity of Sandy’s son, conducting inquiries at the District Office and a court. According to Phileleftheros information, the child’s father recognised paternity through legal proceedings he himself initiated.
Investigators are expected to seek records from those proceedings, as well as the child’s birth certificate and school enrolment records, to resolve the disputed claims.
The missing Samsung
One of the most significant gaps in the investigation concerns Sandy’s mobile phone, a Samsung device on which she says she constructed the messages that were handed to police and later made public.
She says she gave the phone to Clerides for safekeeping. Clerides denies this. The search of his premises was carried out in part to find the device.
In a post, Clerides’s side argued that there are in effect two versions of Sandy: the Sandy of 2020, who confirmed the SMS messages and whose volume, they argue, she could not have fabricated alone, and the Sandy of 2026, who has retracted everything she previously said.
“You are not investigating the Sandy of 2026 while abandoning the search for the truth,” the post read, according to Phileleftheros. “Evidence has been lost, such as the Samsung on which the messages were constructed, and you issued no search warrant for her or for the senders and recipients. You have targeted Nicos Clerides, who offered to help you.”